TOKYO: Japan's jobless rate unexpectedly rose slightly in August, but the availability of jobs hit the highest level in more than five years, government data showed on Tuesday, in an encouraging signal for its efforts to end deflation.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent from 3.8 percent in the previous month. The median forecast was for a reading of 3.8 percent.

The jobs-to-applicants ratio rose to 0.95 from 0.94 in July. That was the highest since May 2008 and matched the median estimate.

The number of new job offers fell 1.0 percent in August from the previous month but was up 4.3 percent from a year ago.